ABOUT

MISSION

U3 Ventures is a real estate development firm that draws on an unparalleled depth and breadth of knowledge focused on the university market. We firmly believe that anchor institutions hold the key to sustainable community and economic development in many cities across the country. U3 Ventures utilizes real estate to create real value while shaping the urban environment through mixed-use development, tapping institutional demand, introducing mixes of underrepresented uses, and engaging the public sector, private sector, and community leadership to navigate the entitlement and financing processes.

Our sister company, U3 Advisors is a nationally recognized consulting practice that provides real estate and economic development solutions to the institutions that anchor our communities. We help clients articulate a vision, craft a strategy and execute solutions in a process that is both collaborative and data-driven.

HISTORY

U3 Ventures was founded in Philadelphia in 2006 by Omar Blaik, a former Senior Vice President at the University of Pennsylvania who lead Penn’s transformation into a vibrant campus that is integrated with its community.

U3 Ventures’ development focus is concentrated in Center City and University City, Philadelphia. As General Partner of a real estate fund, U3 Ventures gained control of disinvested parcels along Philadelphia’s primary commercial corridor to capture pent-up demand for food, entertainment, and rental housing. At the height of the “Great Recession” the firm redeveloped 1100 Chestnut Street for MilkBoy, a successful bar and music venue. During the downturn we also consolidated 1213-1219 Walnut Street, an existing surface parking lot, carried it through the entitlement process to allow for a 300,000 square foot mixed-use building, and prepared the site for development through the demolition of a hazardous structure encumbering the lot.

Today, U3 Ventures is working on several mixed-use projects, including 4224 Baltimore collaboration with Clarkmore Group LLC, and 4301 Baltimore Avenue, two projects which will anchor an important intersection in West Philadelphia.